Suddenly everything started going really fast in this kitchen!  Scott was saying he needed the hardware for the cabinets!  Wha???   Have you ever picked kitchen cabinet knobs in  2 hours?  Not me!  I picked out some and showed them to David who nixed them.  He's got good taste so I thought I should probably rethink.   Im actually really glad I did!  I picked out pulls that screwed in to the cabinet facing which is not a very good way to install pulls (especially with rough and tough kids) so I went to Home Depot and picked out some that installed from the inside of the cabinet.  I also got some really cool handles and knobs.  I think the combination of all of them is going to look fabulous!

What I originally picked out for knobs.

The original pulls

The winning knobs!

The winning pulls!  How about that price?  YIKES

Notice the bubbly glass on the cabinet doors.  Love this detail!  I can't wait to fill my cabinets!

The awesome handles.  Cant wait til they are installed!

The crown moulding seemed like a challenge but it is beautiful!  I love how it finishes the cabinets!

One of the most fun things of this past week was deciding to paint the stove vent hood red!  I do love the color but the gloss has to go!  I actually told Scott to take it down and that we needed to repaint it but Im not sure now.  I think cutting the gloss and antiquing it a bit will be just what it needs!  I do love the pop of color.  

Repainted and installed

Saturday night I spent sanding the island and painting it with the gray primer. 

One must always wear a mask (and a hat) while sanding.  Don't look at my non protected eyeballs :-/

Darryl has overseen this project from day one!  I think he's looking weary!

All primed and ready to be set!

Scott added the columns that he cut lengthwise this morning.  I immediately disliked them.  Didn't want him to mount them.  Sorry that he almost broke his saw and spent a good amount of the morning working on them. Oops.  Its a womans prerogative to change her mind, right?

And the island top was mounted and stained!  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!  Scott really does

a fantastic job of making these counter tops.  Always so impressed!  This one is BIG!  

The island is looking more blue than gray. Im hoping it is the color of the primer.  The top coat paint looks much more like gray.  

The bar top was mounted and stained as well!  They both look great!

Different angle.  

The bar...lots of storage space!

 I don't know if its noticeable in the pictures but my splurge, the farmhouse sink, is in its very own cabinet under the window.  How I LOVE that sink!  Its a one bowl sink with side drain.  Beautiful porcelain white and ready to be used!  The counter tops had their template made today and hopefully the granite will be here in a couple of weeks.  I understand its on backorder so Im definitely crossing my fingers!

The flooring is being put down in the family room!  After two months the end is very very near!

I love repurposing and recycling.  I recycled all of the original cabinets I could to make the bar and island.  I tried (but might need some encouragement) to recycle the columns from the dining room.  Today we were talking about there not being a sill for the kitchen window and I thought about a shelf I had used in my old house years ago.  We put it under the window and voila!  Its perfect! It has some cool detail on it which you can see better in the second picture.  Painted white it will be the perfect neat little useful accent piece for under the window.

Scott pointing to his buddy, Darryl

Looking forward to coming home tomorrow and seeing more flooring finished!  Every day is new and exciting around here!  

Week 7

Things have been so crazy I haven't even had a chance to blog!  So much has happened with the reno. The textured ceiling was shaved and refinished.  It looks great and l love the recessed lights!    

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The Moment that got me the most excited since we started this whole ordeal was when the floor went down in the kitchen!  Finally a new floor!  I love it!  

The tread needed to be stained. The floor is not an exact black walnut but has a mahogany
color in it.  It took a little work to match it but Scott did a great job.

The cabinets are here!  The unloaded them into the garage last week.  Things were definitely feeling real at that point. 

And then Scott started to install them!  LOVE LOVE!

The trash can cabinet is super cool!

Lots more has happened which will come with the next writing.  I feel like the job is really progressing now.  We are more than ready to have our house done and have a real kitchen again!

Embarking on week 6!

Has it really been 6 weeks since we started this reno?  Wow thats a long time of living with such disorder!  I crave organization and not living out of boxes!

Things are really coming along tho!  There is still a ton to do!

Scott has been working hard getting everything ready!  Since I blogged last my appliances were taken out of my kitchen except the sink.  But thats gone now too :(  Doing dishes in the tub these days and using lots of paper products!

Scott taking down my make shift sink!  

Confirmation came today that the cabinets are arriving this Wednesday!  Thats in two (2) days folks!  So looking forward to that!

We no longer have studs for walls but real dry wall!  Woot!  Tonight the house smells especially like dry wall mud.  Its not an un pleasant smell but definitely different;  like wet plaster.

Different angle looking out into the family room.

This is the outside water faucet pipe.  It had busted and was being held together

by some material that just fell apart when Scott touched it! Yikes!

I think I have gotten used to the dining room being opened up and walls taken down!  Some of the owners of the house had put in a doorway between the hallway and the kitchen.  Im assuming this was to heat that part of the house with the wood stove.  It kind of jammed up the pantry door and the area was narrow and small compared to the large room.

The previous doorway with plastic up to catch the dust!
It had a bifold door.

The door was taken down and the door jam and wall above it.  We also opened up that doorway by 5 more inches.  Its much more open!

The columns screamed 1970s!  We are reusing them on the island however and I think they will look awesome there!

This is our cooking and eating area along with the kitchen storage right now!

 My apologies on the quality of some of the pictures!  Some of them were quick snap shots with my phone on the way in or out of the house!  Its been crazy busy!

Scott is working on the ceiling and gonna sand the dry wall so everything is covered in plastic!  I can't wait to clean up and get the painting and flooring started!  Its getting exciting!

End of Week 4!

Today was a day of many emotions.  Hey people!  When they show videos of the family losing it and crying because they can't stand the reno of their house anymore...its real!!!!

So its been a month.  And the worst isn't over.  But I can be a little AR about the cleanliness of my home, namely the keeping the sawdust out of everything AR.  So when my contractor decided he was going to saw and plane and sand the wood tops to the island and bar today instead of working the electric as I expected, I lost it.  Communication is the key.  Scott and I will make a better effort.

Sanding the top!

Check out all the sawdust!!!

 My oldest, who had stayed home from school today sick, was made to help me move everything out of the family room!  I had planned to move out, but it was made a little more urgent by the sawdust flying everywhere.  Then I ripped up the carpet and the padding underneath and went around the room prying up all the staples (no fun).  I removed some of the nailed boards on the perimeter of the room. Don't know what they are called you carpet experts, but they are no fun to get up.

NO more carpet!  

rolls of carpet and more staples in the floor

 Prying up all those little staples is hard work and not so easy peasy on the lower back!  Ouch!

Always go over the floor 2-3 times as they are ALWAYS stragglers!

And wear hard soled shoes so you don't get a staple or a nail in your foot!

Don't you love my foot attire?

Not really taking my own advice but thinking about going into the 

flip flop sock business lol!

More Sawdust!

 And the flooring came!  All sweet 62 boxes of beautiful dark walnut, five inch boards.  Life was ok again and I am in love!!!  Then another truck pulled up and the Fed Ex man handed me a huge box with my wonderful redilicious barn lights in it!  So exciting!

We put a little bit together :-)

Family room holding all the flooring

Its just beautiful! Gonna change the whole space!

Two of these beauties came today!

They will both go over the island.  We were checking the length.

 So some big things happened today.  1. Scott got the island top and the bar top cut to the dimensions needed.  They are sanded and ready for their first coat of stain.  Dark Walnut to match the floor is my choice!  2. The carpet was removed in the family room and the flooring came (still in boxes)!  3.  The island lights came!

Clamping the bar

Putting the island together

Island top

Bar all sawed and sanded

Scott posing with part of his masterpiece

Next week Scott starts on the dry wall and the electric work.  6 recessed lights, one light over the sink and two island lights will be installed.  Plus all new outlets in fresh, clean white!   Its starting to come together!  I hope I can keep it together until then!  :-)